Westerleigh's Michael De Vito, Jr. and Jennifer Mercurio proved it was a perfect day to run and compete in the park Saturday, easily winning the inaugural Staten Island Borough President 5-K Trail Classic male and female titles, respectively, in Clove Lakes Park.

De Vito, Jr., who went wire-to-wire on the refurbished all-terrain 3.1-mile layout, stopped the clock in 17 minutes, 46.3 seconds. James Buckley (18:22.7) and Frank Esposito (18:37.9) finished second and third, respectively.

Mercurio, recording a 7:14-mile pace, crossed the finish line in 22:30.9, good to top Chelsea Aronica (24:11.8, second place) and Patricia Mulligan (24:36.3, third).

Early morning, under rainy skies on the North Shore it appeared the race might be more of a wet festival and the gathering of die-hard runners, set to make Island history on the refurbished trails in the park. However, the weather gods were kind as the rain disappeared before the 9 a.m. start.

"We had a some concerns. We had 180 runners pre-registered so we though maybe some might see the rain and not show," said Mike Schnall, Chief of Staff, Staten Island Borough Commissioner, City of New York, Parks & Recreation (NYC Parks). "But as predicted the rain stopped at 8:30 and I think people maybe showed up who may not have showed at the last minute ready to go. We also had another group register, and we had over 240 people running today."

"At the end of the day the weather clear up, perfect temperature (low 70s), perfect course ... you couldn't for anything more than that," Schnall said. "There were no injuries, everyone seemed to be happy, but some folks complained little bit of the challenges of the hills (Cardiac Hill) other people said it was find; people were asking us to do it again, another loop around ... maybe we'll do a 10-K in the future."

De Vito wasted no time taking charge, leading the parade of runners and walkers around the field/oval, then onto the wood-chipped trails (near the parking lot) and later following a path into the hills.

"My goal was just to run as hard as I could and enjoy the day," De Vito said. "It was more trail than I was expecting and that was fun."

For Mercurio, she also wanted to have a good day, and finish strong.

"I felt really comfortable, I have being doing a lot of hill sprints lately," Mercurio said. "I ran with our team (Staten Island Athletic Club) captain, Gus Stanzione and that was a good team effort."

The race was supported by the following: Friends of Island Trails, King of the Mountain Events, Staten Island Athletic Club, NYC Parks, Borough President James Oddo, Staten Island Killa Beez, Brighton Kiwanis Club, Empire Graphics, New York Road Runners and the New York Carousel/Fantasy Shore Amusement Park.

All funds raised from race will go to fund the Friends of Island Trails, a non-profit coalition of individuals, organizations and academic institutions, working to enhance, protect and preserve trails in Staten Island.